Mothers know
by Marea67
Summary: Set the night before the 'lobster-incident' in 2.08


Nora tastes the spaghetti. Just perfect… As usual. She puts away the spoon, glad that tonight there will be a nice dinner where most of her kids will show up. Not Kitty of course, she's with Robert, campaigning. But Sarah will be there, with the kids. That will be a nice change.

And of course Justin will be there, clean for 2 weeks now. And Tommy, good to know he'll at least get himself a healthy meal with Julia still gone. Nora is so happy that Tommy and Kevin had got to talk that night when they helped Justin. At least their relationship seems to gotten somewhat better… The phone startles her out of her thoughts.

"Mom, would it be alright if I take someone with me tonight?" Nora can hear Kevin ask the question and she smiles.  
"Of course. No problem. There's more than enough food." She answers.  
"I thought so. Just didn't want to upset you by bringing someone unannounced."

As if it would upset her… She nonetheless smiles again.  
"I'll see you and your guest tonight then." She nods, not thinking how Kevin can't see her. The line goes dead and, slightly disappointed, Kevin puts his phone on the table…. His mother hadn't even asked him who is coming.

In her kitchen Nora takes out one of her cooking books. She knows exactly what she's looking for. Mango peach salsa. She used to know the recipe by heart, but she hasn't made it in ages. She grins. Yes. Kevin's guest would love this. He did the last time. Mango peach salsa….

Scotty is surprised by the warm welcome he gets when Kevin re-introduces him to everyone. Tommy is warm and kind to him (mostly because Scotty doesn't ask about Julia or the baby), Justin hugs him like a long lost brother and Sarah jokes around about her new shoes.

The kids, at Sarah's place this weekend, have grown. And he's introduced to Rebecca, who he likes on first sight. It's a lot to take in perhaps, but Scotty savors every moment. There's no shyness. He jokes right back, he answers questions and he's all smiles. From the other side of the room Kevin watches how easily Scotty gets along with everyone.

"He's a wonderful young man, you know." Nora says quietly.  
"He is." Kevin nods.  
"Whoever gets him will be a lucky guy."

"Yes." Kevin answers curtly, not wishing to over-think the idea of someone taking Scotty away from him again.  
Since Scotty is back in his life, he feels like everything has been lightened up. Of course their schedules don't always match and he often comes home to an empty place. But he knows that there will be a delicious dinner in the microwave. And Scotty is such a wonderful cook as well. Every meal is like a bite of heaven.

Scotty's cheerfulness helps him through the days that he misses Jason. He also loves that he's able to tease Scotty and that he never takes teasing as personal as Jason does. They argue and bicker sometimes. But it's different from arguing with Jason. Jason doesn't like verbal sparring. It reminds him of Robert too much (and how Robert always wins).

Scotty, however, has grown emotionally and politically since they were a couple and exchanging opinions is a fun thing to do. Sometimes they have completely different opinions, so deep can the divide be, that they have to 'agree to disagree'. But most of the time they share the same ideas.

Of course Scotty is still more bohemian. And Kevin is still more practical. But in general, they manage to make things work between them and sometimes it gives Kevin a glimpse of how things could have been if he hadn't screwed it up with Scotty. And sometimes he catches himself longing back to those days when Scotty and he were still together.

"You'd have to be an idiot to let him go…" Nora continues.  
"Thanks, mom." Kevin answers sourly. Nora looks at him.  
"I didn't mean you. There's nothing going on between you and Scotty,... is there? You're with Jason,... aren't you?" Two deliberate pauzes in one sentence? "Well, then, it can't be about you." Well, there's 'Nora Logic' for you.

Kevin doesn't answer, instead he watches how Scotty plays with Cooper. Scotty would make a great father one day, Kevin realizes with a sudden feeling that he's missing out on something. He's so focused that he doesn't see the smile on Nora's face.

"Oh, yes, whomever manages to get him, should never let him go." She nods.  
"Is that Mango Peach Salsa?" Kevin tries to change the subject.  
"'t Is."  
"You haven't made that since…" Kevin stops, not wishing to bring back bad memories.

"No, I haven't." Nora agrees.  
"You knew I'd bring Scotty." Kevin suddenly understands.  
"As if there could be anyone else." Nora shrugs. Kevin feels a bit confused by her words, or rather the weird butterfly-in-the-stomach feelings it gives him. Nora turns back to him.

"Listen, Kevin, you just make sure that, when Scotty finds the man of his dreams, that guy will be worthy of him." She warns him. Kevin smiles insecurely.  
"It's not like I'm in any position to tell Scotty anything." He answers. "He makes his own decisions."  
"I know. Just make sure it's the right one."

"Mom! It's not like I could…." Kevin starts, but Nora cuts him off.  
"Kevin, you're a Walker. And you can be more ruthless than your father, if you would set your mind to that. So… Take care of Scotty." Nora practically orders Kevin.

A little stunned by his mother's words, Kevin's eyes tries to find Scotty again. He's talking to Justin, carefree laughter on his face, tall, attractive. Something stirs in Kevin. A feeling he knows he should ignore. Then Scotty and he make eye-contact. He sees a brief moment of confusion as if Scotty had guessed his feelings.

Then Scotty quickly shakes his head as if to shake a weird thought, he avoids looking at Kevin for a moment, but when he looks at Kevin again, and he sees that Kevin is still looking at him, he gives Kevin one of his beautiful smiles. Now it's Kevin turn to suddenly look away, feeling a bit embarrassed for staring at Scotty like that.

When Kevin looks up, Scotty is gone. He quickly scans the room, to get startled when he realizes that Scotty is right next to him.  
"Why aren't you joining the others?" Scotty asks.  
"It's been a busy day and … I don't know, I needed some room to breathe, I think."

He doesn't have to explain. Scotty knows that he loves his family, but sometimes they can be too much too handle. It's something Jason can't always understand. He always tells Kevin, that if he feels this uncomfortable, he should leave. But you just don't walk out of your family, do you?  
"Listen, Scotty, I was wondering… ahm… I'm working at home tomorrow. Will you be home as well?"

"No. I have to work. Some kid's birthday. I don't have all the details yet, but I'll hear it tomorrow."  
Scotty believes it will be The Little Mermaid theme again, most kids (or rather their parents) seem to love that theme. However he won't discuss this with Kevin, because he doesn't believe that Kevin will be too interested in the exact goings-on at the restaurant where Scotty works.

"I see." Kevin can't help but feel a bit disappointed.  
"It might mean that I'm done early though. Kids parties usually start earlier and end sooner." Scotty points out.  
"You'll be working all night though?"

"I hope not. It's a party with 10 kids. Two-three hours with that many brats and I'm out of there as soon as I can..." Scotty laughs.  
"Want me to wait until you get home, so we can have dinner together?" Kevin tries to sound casual, but the question seems to take Scotty by surprise.

"Ahm… sure… if you want to…" He answers. "If you don't mind waiting for me, I'll bring the food." Scotty promises.  
"Mhmmm, sounds like I can't go wrong there. Are you sure that you'll still want to cook? I mean, I can cook too, it's not like I'm a total idiot in the kitchen."

"Let me do what I do best." Scotty's grin is cute, almost flirtatious, and Kevin would love nothing more than to kiss that grin away, but before he can remotely flirt back, Nora calls them all together for dinner. Kevin motions Scotty to go first. Almost out of habit, he gently puts his hand on Scotty's back to guide him to the livingroom.

It's a small gesture and the moment he realizes what he's doing, he retrieves his hand, not sure if it had even been noticed. Kevin takes a deep breath. It's going to be a long night. He can see that, from the other side of the room, Nora is looking at Scotty and him. And he wonders why she smiles so mysteriously, as if she knows a little secret.

THE END


End file.
